Meet the Middle Ages
BackIngeborg Haakonsdotter
Ingeborg was a Norwegian princess with a great deal of influence on Norwegian and Swedish politics during the first half of the 14th century.
Ingeborg was born in 1301. She was the daughter of Haakon Magnusson, King of Norway. At the age of one, she was engaged to be married and when she was ten, she married the Swedish duke Erik Magnusson. He was then 23. Ingeborg had of course not chosen her husband herself. The marriage was part of Duke Erik ´s effort to become King of both Norway and Sweden. The couple met for the first time at their wedding.
However, Erik´s plans were soon ruined. With his brother, Valdemar, he was killed at the so-called "Feast at Nyköping" in 1318. At the age of 16, Ingeborg was widowed, which must have been very hard for her. At the time, she had two young children, a son named Magnus, and a new-born daughter, Eufemia.
Erik´s and Valdemar´s supporters were quick to act after the death of the brothers. They expelled the third brother, King Birger Magnusson, who had planned the murders. The three-year-old son of Ingeborg and Erik, Magnus, was elected King. Magnus Eriksson was the King of Norway and Sweden for no less than 45 years.
Ingeborg was a duchess in the west of Sweden. After her husband´s death, she was often accompanied by Sir Knut Porse from Halland. They lived together for many years, before eventually marrying in 1327.
Ingeborg was a strong-minded woman who kept her own counsel. Since King Magnus was very young when he was crowned, it was in reality Ingeborg and Knut Porse who governed the two realms. Their independent politics annoyed the Norwegian and Swedish councillors. In 1326 and 1327, their authority was definitely withdrawn.
When Knut Porse died in 1330 and Ingeborg became a widow , she gave up her ambitions to rule Norway and Sweden. Now, she devoted herself to her son, King Magnus Eriksson, and remained loyal to him until her death in 1361.